9 Basic Tips for Functional Living Space

Here are some easy tips to decorate your home. Taking a few moments to think about your home will help you fully enjoy it.

Think about your home, and answer these questions:

1) What do you want it to be?

If you want your home to be a tranquil oasis in a busy world, are your colors soothing or do they shout? If you want a fun place for friends to gather, do you have plenty of seating?

2) What are your main hobbies and activities?

What do you need for these activities? For instance, if you have a collection that you work on often, get storage containers for it that can be easily opened or put away. If it’s a lot of trouble to get at your collection, you either won’t spend the time on it or else might be tempted to leave it out and risk losing or breaking certain pieces.

3) Who will be using the space?

How many people will be living there?  What ages are the ones using that space? It’s important for everyone to have a space that’s their own. Whether it’s a special chair, couch, desk or a section of a room, everyone needs ‘their space’. If you’re planning to do video workouts, you’ll need room to move around in front of the TV!

4) What about your things?

It’s easy to become very messy if things don’t have a place. A small filing cabinet is a must for many people – it’s a great place to store all the papers that you don’t know what to do with!

5) How much do you really need?

Too much furniture makes a room seem crowded. The bare essentials are a couch and chair, dining set, a bed and a designated place to store your clothes. After that, think about what you need or don’t need. Will you really use that computer desk? Or would you rather sit on the couch with a laptop?

6) Think about the traffic flow.

You want to be able to walk anywhere in the room without bumping into furniture. Create a floor plan on paper as a first step.

7) Pick a focal point.

What do you want to see when your first walk in the room? If you have nice windows with great lighting, are you emphasizing it? Everyone feels brighter in the sunshine.

8) Think about order and organization.

Do you bring homework every day, or mail, or sports equipment? Where will you put it?   A large bowl or box near the front door is a great place to drop mail until you go through it later.

9) Take advantage of free expert advice.

Every store and every product line employs professional designers to put furniture and accessories together. If you’re unsure of your decorating skills, pick a design you like. Study how they did it either by looking through a catalog or going to a store. It’s all there assembled and displayed for you.

If you like the look, simply do what they’ve done!